History of the Theater

The Lindsay Theater was renovated and reopened in the 1960s, then
closed due to a lack of patronage. In 1982 a group of citizens explored the idea of
buying the theater and turning it into a public auditorium.

The building would be used for stage productions, musical
presentations, lectures, movies and other events. The superintendent of the Lindsay
Unified School district was also interested in a place where school activities could
be conducted.

Donations were sought and the response was generous.
The theater also held many fund raising activities. Eventually, the money was raised to purchase the theater.

Since this was a movie theater, it did not originally adapt well for stage productions,
and the stage has been extended twice. An additional building was acquired and, in
1990 a door was constructed leading to a new warehouse and dressing area. Later a loft
for costume storage was added. Stage lights and a sound system have been installed.

The first play seen at the theater was a high school melodrama presented in May 1983. This was done with very basic lighting and scenery that had been stored in a building on the
high school football field and it was in very poor shape. But it was used anyway.

The following summer the theater presented "Life with
Father," for which all of the scenery was built form scratch.

Six high school
plays, including two musicals, were presented at the theater between the fall of 1983
and the fall of 1985. From originally having to coax students to participate, the
school productions have evolved into a very successful program including summer
school productions and a very active high school drama department. The original two
musicals, "Oklahoma" and "Annie Get Your Gun" were enthusiastically received by the
public. The sight of students on the stage acting and singing had not been seen in
Lindsay since the old high school auditorium was razed twenty years earlier.

In 1986 all members of the community were invited to try out for the musical,
"Music Man", and thus it became a product of the Lindsay Community Theater and has
remained so, ever since.

The drama program in the local schools was extremely enhanced when the theater board
voted to allow the school district unlimited use of the theater for a nominal annual fee.
The school district uses the theater for musical concerts, baccalaureate, awards nights,
graduations, Christmas programs, teacher conferences and numerous other types of events.
The theater can be rented by organizations, churches and individuals.

The LCT is a non-profit corporation and the business of the theater is conducted
by a 15 person Board of Directors.

Anyone may contribute to the theater. Memberships are $25, patrons are $50 and a
$100 contributions is considered an Angel. All contributions are listed in all theater
and school production programs. The theater still depends upon public financial
support to offset operating costs which are considerable. Revenues are also raised
by ads in the programs which have a one-time cost, but are carried in all programs for the
entire year.

Past Productions

Many wonderful productions have taken center stage at the Lindsay Theater.